Spokane's Best Pumpkin Spice Creations

It’s not the sixth member of UK pop sensation The Spice Girls. It’s (according to Wikipedia) a delicious blend of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and sometimes but not always allspice, and it’s used by pastry chefs and baristas everywhere to disguise the fact that plain pumpkin tastes like...well...plain pumpkin.

We assigned five of our hungriest employees the task of locating Spokane's greatest pumpkin spice creations. Here's what they found:

The Pumpkin Waffle

The vegan pumpkin waffle from Boot’s Bakery and Lounge takes all of the advantages* of the waffle and adds one critical ingredient: pumpkin spice. It catapults what would otherwise be a fairly ho-hum waffle into a tantalizing fall breakfast necessity. Feast your eyes on the earthy-orange-hued waffle, and let its warm, delicate spice caress your taste buds. Drizzle the perfect amount of syrup into the beckoning waffle wells. Indulge, you little pumpkin goblin. You deserve it. — Calvin Elam, Marketing Coordinator

*Scientists have proven time and time again that waffles are dramatically superior to their breakfast-cake counterpart, the pancake. The waffle’s unique shape and spatial diversity allows for increased surface area which enables the waffle to serve as a more efficient vessel for containing both liquid and solid toppings. This increased surface area would be for naught if the waffle did not also carry with it a crispy exterior offering resistance to the sogginess caused by syrup, a sogginess that plagues even the hastiest pancake-eater.Brews Bros. Espresso Lounge

Pumpkin Chai

I should preface this by saying I’m not a sweets person. Cookies? Yawn. Pancakes? If I must. Cake? I don’t care if it’s your birthday, I’m not eating that. All that being said, the Pumpkin Chai at Brews Bros. was delicious. Local owner Julie Katzer orders real pumpkin puree every autumn and you can taste the difference. The drink has a subtle, natural sweetness without any of the syrupy trappings of its inferior counterparts. You can order it iced or hot. I visited on a warm day and chose the iced option. Tasty and refreshing, it was just the kick in the pants I needed to get through my Friday afternoon at work. I’m still not a sweets person, but I am most definitely a Brew Bros. Pumpkin Chai person. —Peter Dunau, Content Manager

Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream

If I could eat ice cream every meal of the day with no consequences…I would. Chocolate is my go-to flavor, but when fall comes around, it’s pumpkin all the way. Brain Freeze Creamery offers one of my favorites, plus, you can’t beat locally made products! Stop in at their location in Kendall Yards and treat your taste buds to a little bit of fall in every bite.

Pumpkin Cider

It’s that time of year again when the leaves turn, the air gets crisper and all you eat, drink and smell is PUMPKIN! I took it upon myself to seek out local craft breweries and cideries and test out their secret recipes for pumpkin brews. Spokane Valley’s One Tree Hard Cider brewed up a batch of Pumpkin Cider, and I had to test it out. Apples + pumpkin = delicious! It’s like they took my favorite home-brewed cider and smashed a pumpkin in it to create the marvelous taste of fall. The sweet cider taste combined with the perfect amount of spicy pumpkin tempts you to chug your glass and ask for seconds. Get your growlers ready and have a night of pumpkin carving and cider drinking. Cheers!